Jim Bradshaw, Brunswick County Economic Development director, says Brunswick county offers up 22,000 acres of land with sewer, water and natural gas and it’s ready to build on. He says they’ve got the land, workforce and quality of life companies are looking for but they face challenges when it comes time to reel them in.

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“The challenge is when they get down to the final two or three and they are looking at other sites in multiple states which offer higher incentives than North Carolina, that’s when it gets highly competitive,” said Bradshaw.

Scott Satterfield, CEO of Wilmington Business Development, says being able to compete means continuing to strengthen the workforce.

“Everybody plays a big part in this. There’s no one thing, there’s no one formula, there’s not a magic answer. It’s just a lot different people, a lot of different companies, a lot of different organizations,” said Satterfield.